Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“I feel like you can see the entire Skein from here,” she said softly. “As if we stand atop a map.”
The note of wonder—unexpected, almost reverent—made something shift in him. Against his better judgment, he pointed to the horizon. “South, past that forest, you’ll find the Badlands, with its plains of sand and sun. To the north, that range marks our border with Craigdúr. During the full moon, you’ll hear Lykae howls. Will that unsettle you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard one before,” she said. “They’re no friends to a vampire like me.”
“As I told you, running from Ravinelun would land you in worse trouble.”
“What if I climbed Mount Nothrior?” She nodded eastward. “Wouldn’t that open up the entire Skein?”
“Climb it from this direction? Only the strongest immortals can scale those icy, inverted sides. You’d be better off facing the wolves.”
She raised her brows, considering. “Have you explored much of the Skein?”
“Enough to know it and its peoples.” He’d traveled almost everywhere except to the Helter and deep into the Badlands. He’d seen the Skein’s coasts, its mountains, the dangerous beauty of its snowy heart.
“I’m jealous,” she admitted. “I wish I could experience it all. Well, almost all of it.” She drew her focus closer to home. “The ravines truly are a maze.”
“When you’re in them, you can’t rely on smell or hearing. Winds shift, and echoes lie. That labyrinth wants to trick you—that’s its value—so we learn every bend by sight.”
She looked at him expectantly, awaiting another lesson, but he hesitated. Was he truly to teach a vampire how to navigate their defenses?
“How do outsiders ever find their way here?” she asked.
Her interest stirred his suspicions. Planning to lead an army to our ruin?
Though he hadn’t seen vampire soldiers in Bloodreach, perhaps he hadn’t been meant to. Maybe this was all by design. The vampires could be lulling Berserkers into a false sense of security while their royal agent learned Ravinelun’s vulnerabilities.
Nothing could hurt the clan worse than a trusted infiltrator.
He answered, “Outsiders don’t find their way. We guide them and make them vow to the Lore never to reveal our secrets.” A vow to the Lore was an ancient oath, unbreakable for most. Yet not for all. He didn’t know if that vow could bind a day-walking vampire, so he hadn’t bothered depending on one. “We might not have a fortified castle, but the maze guards us better than stone walls ever could.”
A crisp breeze caught her hair, and she tucked it behind her ear. “It’s beautiful up here,” she murmured. “In Bloodreach, we didn’t have such viewpoints. This place”—she gestured at the blue horizon—“it feeds something in me.”
Arctos stared at her delicate profile, the play of light on her skin. Infiltrator, he reminded himself coldly. Only a fool would fall for her wiles. “I’ve never met a vampire who valued beauty for its own sake,” he said curtly.
“Then you’ve sadly met the wrong kind,” she replied, unruffled. She pointed toward a silver ribbon cutting the land below. “How long is that river?”
“Very. It runs across three territories before ending in Umber. Can you swim?”
“Not a stroke.”
He grunted. “Even child’s play is beyond you? Ravinelun floods every spring. You’ll learn or risk drowning.”
“Quick learner,” she said with a small, teasing tap to her temple. “I’m excellent under pressure, so I should be great underwater too.”
Raised brows. “Then why didn’t you learn in Bloodreach?”
“The Scarlet Shallows reek of rot and iron, and sea monsters slither about. Besides, I wasn’t allowed beyond the castle walls. Hard to practice swimming when you’re not permitted to approach anything larger than a bathtub.”
“So the castle was all you knew?”
She nodded. “I’d always dreamed of leaving and visiting the places I’d read about. Striking out on my own. But I do miss Nadje, my companion. Could you reach out to Inkletter, ask if she’s safe?”
He hesitated, then inclined his head once. “Where did you read about?”
Getting a dreamy look in her eyes, she said, “Everywhere from Rhun with its demon blood sports to the frozen lands of North Valhalland. I read about your mysterious ravines. Will you teach me to navigate them today?”
“You said loyalty is earned. So is trust.”
“But until I’m free, I can’t prove myself.”
“Correct.”
She sighed. “I’m not used to being distrusted. Everyone knows vampires can’t lie.”
“They can’t walk in daylight either. You could be lying about your ability to lie, about your nonexistent ability to trace, about your father’s plans and the number of warriors your kingdom possesses. You could still be a spy, sent to learn our weaknesses, poison our stores, destroy us from within.”
“That is a rational assumption. Had my father been sane, he might have hatched exactly that plan.”
Arctos blinked at her candor, uncertain whether it disarmed him or deepened suspicion.
“In any case, if I were that competent,” she said mildly, “we’d be having a very different conversation.”